TO THE EDITOR:
This letter is to the citizens of Warren County. I was sitting in my prison cell looking at the Oct. 18, 2015 Southern Standard front page and I couldn't believe my eyes.
Here is a man named Jimmy Jones on the front page guilty of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. He ends up getting 18 years in prison.
My name is Lawrence Ralph and I have been in trouble with the police several times over 35 years. Nothing real serious, but it's still been trouble.
My family and Judge Bart Stanley have never gotten along very well and he gave me 17 years in prison for a meth charge in 2008. What's wrong with this picture?
There's no victim in my crime. No one got hurt. So where's the justice at $48,000 to $50,000 a year to keep people like me up in prison?
At least they say that's what kind of money it takes. I can assure you we are not getting that kind of money spent on us, but let's not get off track from where I was going with this we as Americans call justice.
Or is it justice?
Is it justice for people who have money and can afford it, or is it justice for us poor people who get the shaft and get an example made of us? Which is it?
Lawrence Ralph
Inmate No. 224370
Clinton, Tenn